The Secret Test of Character
by Nightcrawlerlover
Summary: AU. Based on the English version of the story Diamonds and Toads. Stephanie is a kind-hearted girl. When she's given a wonderful gift for being kind to someone, it makes some changes to her life...


**Hey there, my fellow writers and readers. I hope you are well. :) Here's a new Full House crossover oneshot I cooked up one day. (This time it's a Full House/Harry Potter one, and it's set in an alternate universe as well.) I was reading this really beautiful fairy tale called **Diamonds and Toads**, and I took a liking to it from the first time I read it. I especially liked how the fairy rewarded the younger sister for being good and kind to her while in the form of an elderly woman, and then punished the older sister for being rude and unkind while having taken the form of a princess. After all, it is said that to speak kindly does not hurt the tongue, and that no good deed goes or should go unrewarded, either.**

**So, inspired by that story, I decided to write a story that's based on the fairy tale. As a result, this is what I came up with. **

**Disclaimer: Genius Jeff Franklin owns Full House. J.K. Rowling (also a genius) owns Harry Potter. The lyrics to Learnin' to Fly by Tom Petty belong to their respective owners. The French fairy tale Diamonds and Toads (also known as The Fairies) belongs to Charles Perrault (while Andrew Lang owns the English translation). I own the fanfics I cook up from time to time.**

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The Secret Test of Character

_Well, I started out  
Down a dirty road  
Started out  
All alone_

_And the sun went down_  
_As I crossed the hill_  
_And the town lit up_  
_The world got still_

_I'm learnin' to fly_  
_But I ain't got wings_  
_Comin' down_  
_Is the hardest thing_  
-Tom Petty, **Learnin' to Fly**

Once upon a time, there was a man named Daniel Tanner. He had a wife and two daughters. The oldest daughter was Donna Jo Margaret, who preferred to be called ‛D.J.' for short. The youngest was Stephanie Judith. The two girls had hair of gold, like their real mother (who had died in a car crash a few weeks after Stephanie's birth).

As people naturally love their own likeness, Stephanie took after her father, as he was good and kind to others, and he loved her very much. D.J. was a lot like her stepmother, who was very disagreeable and proud that there was no living with them – not one bit.

The stepmother loved D.J. and had an aversion to Stephanie. An example of this was when she would make Stephanie eat in the kitchen and work all the time, while D.J. got the finest clothes and great foods, and was told she didn't have to work at all.

Among other things, Stephanie would often go out and draw water from the well in the yard outside the house and bring a pitcher of it back home. She had to do this twice a day.

One day, she had headed out to the well to draw water. As soon as she had arrived and finished her task, a mysterious figure soon made an appearance.

It was a young man wearing a cloak. He was blessed with a face that seemed to have features that other girls would refer to as ‛handsome'. His hair was the color of the raven's wing and his eyes reminded her of the jewel known as the emerald.

"Excuse me, my dear," he said while bowing politely. "But may I have some water, please?"

If Stephanie was able to see her own face right then, she would've definitely noted with a smile that she was pleased with the request that the stranger with the green eyes had made, as well as his manners, too.

"Of course," she replied just then. "With all my heart, sir."

And she tipped the pitcher so that its mouth was aimed at the stranger's cupped hands. As soon as his hands were full of the water he desired, Stephanie pulled the pitcher back, and the stranger began to drink.

When he was finished and dusted off his hands, he looked Stephanie in the eye and said, a smile on his visage, "Truly, you have not just beauty, but you are also very polite. Plus, you have a good heart and a nature where you want to help others. For that, I cannot help but give you a gift."

The stranger then pulled off his cloak, and there, in his place, was none other than the wizard he really was. His name was Harry Potter, and he had disguised himself, pretending to be a thirsty stranger in order to test the character of mortals, as well as see how this girl would treat him. "I give you for a gift," he said, "that at every word you speak, diamonds, roses or pearls will fall from your lips."

With that, he whipped out his wand, waved it at Stephanie and muttered an incantation for good luck. Stephanie's heart seemed to swell with happiness, and she thanked him for his gift to her while hugging him.

"You're welcome, Stephanie," he replied while hugging her back.

As she turned and ran back home, Harry chuckled to himself; he knew he had sensed correctly about Stephanie having a good heart, and her being polite and respectful was something that would have his fairy friends whispering to each other and appearing to her while giving her smiles of encouragement when she had to make a choice between something right and something easy.

When Stephanie arrived home, her stepmother scolded her for staying so long at the well.

"I'm very sorry, Stepmother," Stephanie said, "for not being more quick in getting back home."

As she spoke, out of her mouth came two diamonds, three pearls and three roses.

Her stepmother and D.J. were shocked as they gazed at the diamonds, roses and pearls. Luckily for Stephanie, the diamonds had been enchanted so that they never cut the top layer of skin on her lips.

"What is this?" cried the stepmother. "I am seeing pearls, roses and diamonds fall from your mouth. Tell me, how did this happen, dearest Stephanie?"

It was the first time that she had ever spoken to Stephanie in a kind way.

So Stephanie told her stepmother, D.J. and her father all about going to the well and meeting a thirsty stranger that was actually a wizard, and then, after she had given him a drink of water, he rewarded her with the gift of jewels and flowers coming out of her mouth every time she spoke.

"This is quite delightful!" cried the stepmother. "I wonder what will happen if...?"

She looked thoughtful for a moment, and then brightened up. "That's it. I think I have an idea." She then turned to Stephanie. "What I will do is send your older sister to the well. I'm sure that she would love to have the same gift you have."

But when D.J. heard of her stepmother's idea, she wouldn't have any of it. "It would be a fine thing for me to do," she said. "My sister can give me those jewels; she doesn't need them."

"You **are** going, young lady," said Danny, turning to D.J. with a stern look in his eye – which was matched by the one in the eyes of his wife. "And you shall go this very minute. Right now."

D.J.'s reply to that was a lot of grumbling on her part, until she finally went off to the well, taking with her the best silver pitcher in the house.

Soon, she came to the well. After filling the pitcher with the right amount of water, she looked up and there was a stranger wearing a cloak. Only this stranger was different somehow.

The stranger then asked D.J. for some water.

"I did not come here to serve you," D.J. haughtily replied. "Do you think I came to this well just to fill the pitcher up with water, and then give the water to someone else such as yourself? You can get the water just as well as I can."

The stranger narrowed his eyes and then threw back his hood. Standing in his place was a pale boy. His face was pointed, and his eyes were the color of the clouds before a storm would come.

D.J. sucked in her breath in shock, but managed to hold on to the silver pitcher. This was not Harry Potter, the wizard who had given her sister the gift of diamonds, roses and pearls. This was a different person.

"Hey, you're not the wizard that gave my sister the gift of diamonds, roses and pearls falling from her lips every time she spoke," she said.

"No," he replied. "I'm Malfoy – Draco Malfoy. And I'm a different sort of wizard. You see, I give those who are mean to others and think haughtily of themselves a gift that's different from the one that Harry Potter gave to your sister Stephanie."

D.J. blinked. She couldn't believe her ears.

"You are not very polite," he went on. "Since you are so rude and so unkind, I give you for a gift that at every word you speak, either a snake or a toad will come out of your mouth."

So saying, he then pulled out his wand, waved it at D.J. and said the incantation for ill fortune. With a look of terror etched on her features, D.J. clutched the pitcher to herself as she turned and ran back home.

Draco smiled to himself. Like Harry, he too would disguise himself as a stranger in need of a drink of water. This was their way to test the character of mortals, as well as whether they treated others nicely, like Stephanie, or subjected them to meanness, like D.J. did.

When D.J. finally reached home and stepped over the threshold, the stepmother greeted her at the door.

"Well, my dear," said the stepmother, "did you see the wizard?"

"Yes, Stepmother," replied D.J., and as she spoke, two serpents and two toads came out of her mouth.

"What is this I'm seeing here?" cried the stepmother. "What have you done?"

D.J. tried to answer, but at every word, toads and snakes fell from her mouth.

"That's it! This is the fault of your sister," the stepmother hissed. "I will discipline her for what she has done!"

But the stepmother's words were too late. Stephanie had already packed her bags and then left the house.

Soon, she was in the forest and began to weep softly and bitterly.

Draco and Harry heard the sounds of quiet crying and followed them. When they got to the source, their eyes widened in realization. For there, sitting next to a suitcase and a backpack, was Stephanie. Her head was in her hands, and Harry and Draco felt some empathy for her.

"Stephanie?" asked Harry. "What's wrong?"

Stephanie sniffled a little before pulling her hands away from her tear-stained face. "It's my stepmother," she managed to say. "She turned me out of her house because she thinks I'm the one to blame for causing my sister D.J. to have toads and serpents fall from her mouth every time she spoke."

After hearing this, Draco and Harry looked at each other before turning back to Stephanie and smiling.

"Come and live with us, Steph," Harry suggested. "Besides, you need a better place to stay than out here in the woods."

After thinking it over, it was Stephanie's turn to smile as she said yes. Before long, she was at the wizards' palace.

It turned out that the wizards' palace was made of gold, and there were so many rooms that it was hard to keep track of them all. But Stephanie didn't mind a bit. She was treated kindly by the fairies, who viewed her as a daughter to them, and also gave her good food to eat and beautiful clothes to wear – and not just dresses, either. They also gave her encouragement, especially when it came to staying true to, as well as believing in, herself, which were lessons Stephanie took to heart and remembered fondly.

Then, one day, a beggar man came to the palace, where he knocked at the door three times. When Stephanie opened it, she recognized her father. While sitting in a chair by the fire, Danny explained to Harry and Draco that after his wife tried to throw Stephanie out of the house, he left her the next day, determined to never return. Unfortunately, he soon became so poor that he had to beg for bread at Stephanie's door.

Stephanie, who was still good and kind, suggested that her father stay with her at the palace. He readily consented in his happiness at both seeing his daughter in well-to-do circumstances and at her not having lost her value of being kind to others.

"But what about Stephanie's sister D.J.?" Draco queried.

Danny lowered his head in sadness before looking back at Draco, Stephanie and Harry. "Well, let me put it this way," he replied. "After I left, my wife soon told D.J. to leave, as she had grown sick of seeing the showers of snakes and toads falling from D.J.'s mouth whenever she spoke. D.J. soon came to the woods. However, unlike you, Stephanie, as you had Draco and Harry to help you when you needed it, D.J. was alone, and nobody came to help her when she needed assistance. I found out that she had been found in the woods, and that she had died a few days ago."

Tears fell from Stephanie's azure eyes as Harry, Draco and the fairies tried to comfort her. "How did she die, Dad?" Stephanie asked.

"It was starvation," Danny replied. "She didn't have enough food to eat. As a result, she grew weakened, and her heart gave out."

After a moment, Danny looked at Draco and Harry with tears that were now ones of happiness shining in his eyes. "Draco, Harry," he said, "thank you both, for saving Stephanie's life."

He then looked at Harry as he spoke his next words. "I also want to say thanks to you, Harry, for giving her the gift of diamonds, pearls and roses. I have a feeling that the reason you chose that gift for her was because not only is she very virtuous, but that she takes after me in being kind and loving as well."

Stephanie couldn't help but smile as her own tears of happiness also fell from her eyes. Her father was right about that.

In the end, Stephanie Tanner had a new home in a golden palace, and the kind of life she'd always wanted. Her father was given the kind of job he'd always wanted – helping out the workers with their tasks whenever they needed it.

And one thing was absolutely certain: for Stephanie and her father, life had never been sweeter or more kinder.

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**Well, that's that. And nice feedback is, of course, very much appreciated, too. :)**


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